This is the ongoing saga of the oh so dull lives of Mark, Laini and Monti Reel

Monday, 17 January 2011

Dr. Martin Luther King Still Speaks

Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring—when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children—black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics—will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Dr. Martin Luther KingShalom:
In the Reel home, Dr. King's birthday isn't viewed as a "day off." but to remember the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King. Michael King, Jr., was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, the middle child of the Reverend Michael King, Sr. and Alberta Williams King. He had one older sister, Willie Christine and a younger brother, Alfred Daniel Williams. Both Dr. King and his father names were Michael originally, until the family traveled to Europe in 1934 and visited Germany. His father soon changed both of their names to Martin Luther in honor of the German Protestant leader Martin Luther.As a young minister, Dr. King called for this nation to live up to her creeds. The army he raised up fought for the rights of those americans denied them, through marches, sit ins and boycotts.In their hands were bibles and the hands tof those who walked with them. On their lips, prayers and songs. When attacked, they did not fight back. When a church was bombed and four little black girls were murdered, Dr. King did not call for revenage.At 39 years old, Dr. King's voice was silenced by bullet. His four children forgave his murder.But even all these years, we can still hear his voice, calling, challenging us to go higher. We as a nation have come a long way, but we still have a ways to go.Today, Mark and I reflected on the fact there was a time in this nation's history, our marriage would be illegal, we would be in jail.There are people who still think our love is a crime.All amercians are indebted to Dr. King. It is all of our job, not just his three surviving children and granddaughter to make his dream come true. For he still calls out...

"...Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false with the true.""....The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become anirrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority."Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love, 1963".I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.”